Mark O’Connell’s 2021s from his beloved Domaine Clos de la Chapelle are simply stunning and utterly classical expressions of red and white Burgundy. Like so many of the finest reds of this vintage, the domaine’s roster of vins rouges harkens back stylistically to the beautiful vintage of 2001, with lovely ripe fruit, superb transparency down to each wine’s respective terroir, suave, fine-grained structures and beautiful nascent complexity that guarantees that these wines will be cellar treasures once they are mature and ready to drink. After the string of very ripe vintages that we have had in Burgundy of late, the 2021s are a breath of fresh air to those of us with classically-inclined Burgundy palates!
2021 Beaune “Champs Pimont”- Domaine Clos de la Chapelle
The 2021 Beaune “Champs Pimont” from Domaine Clos de la Chapelle is a beautifully elegant and transparent example of this classic vintage. The bouquet hops from the glass in a vibrant blend of cherries, red plums, cocoa powder, a lovely base of soil, a touch of sweet stems, woodsmoke, fresh thyme and cedary oak. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied, focused and tangy, with a good core, fine soil signature, ripe tannins and a long, complex and beautifully balanced young finish. This will demand some bottle age before it starts to stir, but it is going to be an excellent bottle of premier cru once it emerges from hibernation. 2031-2085. 90+ points.
2021 Beaune “les Teurons”- Domaine Clos de la Chapelle
Like the domaine’s Champs Pimont bottling, the 2021 Beaune “les Teurons” comes in at an even thirteen percent octane in this vintage. The wine’s aromatic constellation is complex and very elegant, offering up scents of red and black cherries, dark berries, coffee bean, woodsmoke, gamebird, dark soil tones, still a touch of whole clusters and a lovely framing of cedary oak. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and soil-driven in personality, with bright acids, fine-grained tannins and impeccable balance on the long, focused and nascently complex finish. This is going to be a lovely wine once it has blossomed. 2031-2085. 91 points.
2021 Volnay “Premier Cru”- Domaine Clos de la Chapelle
As readers may recall, the Volnay “Premier Cru” bottling made its debut in the 2020 vintage and is produced entirely from the younger vines in the domaine’s parcel of Taillepieds. The 2021 version is beautifully precise and complex aromatically, wafting from the glass in a blend of black cherries, black plums, coffee bean, dark soil tones, gamebird, woodsmoke and cedar. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied and soil-driven in personality, with a good core of fruit, fine-grained tannins and lovely focus and grip on the long and impeccably balanced finish. This is still tightly-knit, but will be outstanding once it is ready to drink. 2030-2075+. 91+ points
2021 Volnay “en Carelle”- Domaine Clos de la Chapelle
The 2021 Volnay “en Carelle” from Domaine Clos de la Chapelle is a touch more black fruity in personality than the lovely 2020 version, offering up a refined bouquet of dark berries, black cherries, a touch of pomegranate, dark soil tones, raw cocoa, a dollop of fresh thyme, pigeon and a deft framing of cedary oak. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and elegant in profile, with a good core, lovely transparency and bounce, suave tannins and a long, well-balanced and complex finish. This will be a fine bottle in due course. 2030-2075. 91+ points
2021 Volnay “Clos de la Chapelle”- Domaine Clos de la Chapelle
The Clos de la Chapelle bottling has become one of my absolute favorite examples of premier cru Volnay since Mark O’Connell purchased this small domaine. His 2021 Clos de la Chapelle is yet again another beautiful example of Volnay, offering up a pure and complex bouquet of cherries, red plums, raw cocoa, a gorgeous base of soil, pigeon, woodsmoke, a nice touch of mustard seed and a deft framing of cedary oak. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, focused and complex, with a lovely core of fruit, fine soil inflection, fine-grained tannins and seamless balance on the long, vibrant and youthful finish. This is going to be a beautiful wine with a bit of bottle age. 2033-2085. 94 points.
2021 Volnay “les Taillepieds” Vieilles Vignes- Domaine Clos de la Chapelle
The 2021 Volnay “les Taillepieds” Vieilles Vignes from Domaine Clos de la Chapelle is a simply stunning young wine and one that makes me wish I was twenty years younger, so I would have the opportunity to drink this wine at its absolute apogee twenty-five or thirty years down the line! The bouquet is pure and stunningly complex, wafting from the glass in a refined blend of red and black cherries, raw cocoa, gamebird, black tea, a gorgeously complex base of soil, a wisp of fresh herb tones and cedary oak. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and very transparent, with a superb core of fruit, ripe, seamless tannins, tangy acids and precise focus on the long, complex and impeccably balanced finish. Volnay is always touted as the most elegant red wine of the Côte de Beaune and here is a very, very strong argument that this is the case! A brilliant Taillepieds. 2033-2085+. 94+ points.
2021 Pommard “les Chanlins” Trés Vieilles Vignes- Domaine Clos de la Chapelle
Mark O’Connell’s 2021 Chanlins is another absolutely riveting example of this classic vintage. These very old vines have weathered the challenges of the growing season beautifully and the wine’s aromatic constellation is refined and precise, offering up scents of cherries, pomegranate, red plum, summer truffle, a touch of cocoa powder, pigeon, a very complex base of soil tones, woodsmoke, cumin, a dollop of mustard seed and a deft framing of cedary oak. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and very elegant for a young Pommard, with a superb core of fruit, marvelous transparency and grip, fine-grained tannins and laser-like focus on the long, complex and seamlessly balanced finish. This too is a stunning young wine! 2033-2085+. 94+ points.
2021 Corton “Bressandes”- Domaine Clos de la Chapelle
The 2021 Corton “Bressandes” from Domaine Clos de la Chapelle is the youngest wine of this range of vins rouges, as it should be, but it shares the same precision, soil inflection and potential for profundity as some of its slightly more forward brethren. The bouquet is very promising, wafting from the glass in a mix of cherries, red currants, pomegranate, venison, mustard seed, bonfire, raw cocoa, cedary oak and a gorgeous base of stony soil tones. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, focused and still gently marked by its whole clusters, with gorgeous depth in the mid-palate, superb soil inflection, ripe, buried tannins and very precise focus on the long, complex and superbly well-balanced finish. The inherent elegance of the 2021 vintage is very much in evidence here, despite the slightly more structured character of this fine grand cru in the making. 2037-2100. 94+ points.
2021 Beaune “les Reversées” Blanc- Domaine Clos de la Chapelle
The 2021 Beaune “les Reversées” Blanc from Domaine Clos de la Chapelle is a beautifully expressive aromatically right out of the blocks. The superb bouquet wafts from the glass in a floral blend of apple, a hint of passion fruit, chalky soil tones, apple blossoms, orange zest and a deft touch of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is fullish, focused and more tightly-knit than the nose suggests, with a good core, zesty acids and lovely soil signature defining the long and promising finish. This will need a couple of years to blossom on the palate, but it will be quite tasty once it is ready to drink. 2025-2045. 90+ points.
2021 Pernand-Vergelesses “Sous Frétille”- Domaine Clos de la Chapelle
Mark O’Connell’s 2021 Pernand-Vergelesses “Sous Frétille” is an excellent wine in the making. The bouquet is pure and youthful, offering up scents of apple, pear, fresh almond, a lovely base of chalky soil tones, a touch of musky floral tones and a stylish framing of new oak. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied and youthful, with good depth in the mid-palate, lovely soil inflection, bouncy acids and lovely length and grip on the focused, nascently complex and well balanced finish. All this needs is a bit of hibernation. 2026-2045+. 92 points.
2021 Corton-Charlemagne- Domaine Clos de la Chapelle
The Domaine Clos de la Chapelle’s 2021 Corton-Charlemagne is a beautiful young wine. The bouquet is deep and precise, offering up a superb constellation of pear, apple, raw almond, incipient notes of crème pâtissière, a gorgeous base of limestone minerality, white lilies and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, pure and full-bodied, with a fine girdle of acidity, lovely depth at the core, impressive mineral undertow, seamless balance and a long, still fairly primary and very promising finish. 2028-2055. 94 points.